By Yisrael Yitzchak Rosenfeld
Another reflection on this week’s Parashat HaShavua.
In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Pinchas, the Torah enumerates all of the korbanot—the sacrificial offerings that were brought in the Mishkan and later in the Beit HaMikdash.
But what is the connection between these korbanot and the name of our parashah?
Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa teaches that this connection is profound:
The essence of a korban is drawing close to Hashem—coming nearer to Him by giving something of yourself, by surrendering comfort, by demonstrating mesirut nefesh—true self-sacrifice and wholehearted devotion.
And that is precisely what Pinchas did.
When he rose to stop the desecration of Hashem’s Name, he put everything on the line.
At that moment, according to halachah, Pinchas was considered a rodef—someone who could have been lawfully killed on the spot.
That act could have been the last thing he ever did.
Yet he acted anyway, in order to bring both himself and all of Klal Yisrael closer to Hashem.
Pinchas himself became a korban.
The Torah places the section of the korbanot here to whisper this truth to us:
True closeness to Hashem requires courage.
It calls on us to break through the illusion of comfort and to stand up for what truly matters.
May we never fear that sacrifice, and through it, may we draw ever closer to Hashem.
